The Sound Of Running is the running blog of Marcus Ryder it accompanies the audio diary; audioboo.fm/TheSoundOfRunning and twitter feed of @RunningRyder. It charts the thoughts, musings and life of a keen amateur runner who is trying to figure out why he runs and why he loves it.
Warning: this blog will not make you a faster runner, slimmer or fitter. But hopefully it will make you think.

Friday, 5 April 2013

Running Like An Olympic Athlete

Running a marathon is hard no matter whom you are, your
level of ability or experience. And that is what makes the marathon great.

Two months ago my wife and I ran the Cannes half marathon.
The race is a double loop but the loops themselves involve running up one side
of the beach front road and then running down the other side. This means that some of the runners get to see the race leaders and strong club runners four
times as they run past them on the opposite side of the road.

At the end of the race my wife told me that seeing the
runners at the front running past her was a revelation; “They are in pain! I
thought it was only average runners like me that found the marathon hard but
seeing their faces as we passed each other I realised they are finding it just
as hard”

It reminded me of when I was at school and used to run cross
country every week in games. I absolutely hated cross country but I was quite
good at it normally coming second or third in my year. The other kids who were
not good at cross country were sure cross country didn’t cause me pain because
I was good at it and they frequently told me so. Unlike my wife running the
Cannes half marathon they never saw the pain in my face. It was not a face of
joy.

Perversely it is in fact this pain that makes the marathon
so great.

A marathon is a test both mentally and physically regardless
of your age, gender or ability.

If you are trying to run 42.2km as fast as you can you will
experience pain. Your body will hurt and your brain will tell you to give up at
some point. This is true if you are an Olympian athlete or doing your first
marathon in over five hours. And this is what my wife realised when she pushed
herself to run a sub 2 hour half marathon for the first time in France and saw
the elite athletes pushing themselves to run it in just over an hour.

Everyone in a marathon is pushing their bodies and minds to
the limit. I might never be able to be as fast as an elite marathon runner but
unlike almost any other sport I do feel their pain.Which is why I can say with a slightly pained expression on my face; "I run like an Olympian".

(The picture today is of me at the end of the Amsterdam Marathon feeling the
pain)

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

I am a keen amateur runner. I love running but I'm more interested in what running can help me discover about myself and life than what I can tell the world about running. Running is not simply putting one foot in front of the other as fast and for as long as possible any more than meditation is simply closing your eyes sitting cross legged on the floor